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Epic failure.
Peter Jackson crafted lush, dense, authentic, magnificent videos
of each book of the Lord of the Rings trilogy,
true to both the spirit and details of Tolkien’s monumental text.
The Hobbit, prequel to the saga,
became a pointless clownish cartoon under Jackson’s direction.
I’m surprised the cast didn’t mutiny.
Just read the book,
or listen to the audiobook narrated by Rob Inglis.
Much, much better than this silly video.

I liked this Sci-Fi DVD. It is not appropriate for children. There is a lot of violence. I like the whole series. I like the whole series for "The Hobbit" and "The Lord Of The Rings". I recommend watching "The Hobbit" first.

A man named Bilbo Baggins went on an adventure with Thorin Oakenshield and his company of dwarves as well as a wizard named Gandalf. This story comes before The Lord of The Rings, so I would recommend reading this before that. Bilbo and company go to a place called the Lonely Mountain and they work together to try to get rid of the Dragon that lives in that mountain called Smaug. It is a very dangerous journey and Smaug lays asleep in a pile of treasure which originally belonged to Thorin’s grandfather Thrór. The most precious item out of the whole treasure is called Arkenstone. Bilbo’s nickname is The Thief and Thorin makes a deal with him. He says if he can go into the Lonely Mountain and steal the Arkenstone itself, he will give him a third of the treasure. Bilbo agrees, and their adventure to the Desolation of Smaug begins.
- @redninam of the Teen Review Board of the Hamilton Public Library

The Hobbit series has fallen prey to the new trend of splitting up one book into multiple movies. As such the movies tend to drag on, and this one is no different. I know that it would have been hard to include all of the detail that made the Hobbit what it was, but three movies was too much. This movie is filled with many flashy scenes that try to capture, or regain your attention, but that is very hard to do if your audience has already fallen asleep. As part of the Lord of the Rings series many people are obligated to go and see this movie, because it is part of something that they love, and that is probably the only thing that made this movie any money. Overall I could have done without this entire movie and only split the book into two movies, if you split it up at all. 1 out of 5 stars.
- @sweaterz of the Teen Review Board of the Hamilton Public Library

Great movie, close enough to the book. The only bias is the presence of this Tauriel of ours... she doesn't belong... period. But, in the 2010ies you cannot make a movie without having some strong female characters I guess... even if it doesn't make sense -see the new Ghostbusters :( - now I'll be waiting for the male version of Pollyanna.

Honestly, I could have done without this entire movie. Sure, it was full of flash scenes, but made the whole thing seem unbearably long and tedious. I hope the third is better, as I quite liked the first one a lot more than the desolation of Smaug.

First of all, I am a total LOTR geek, so please excuse my enthusiasm about this. Anyway, I mostly liked the movie. Sure, the dwarves act like they have no sense half the time (except Balin) and the timeline is majorly condensed, but the stunning visuals and epic fight scenes make up for that. Legolas makes sense, since he would have been around at that time. I like his addition, since he is awesome and an amazing fighter, but I CANNOT AND WILL NOT ACCEPT TAURIEL!!! She is basically a one-dimensional character added for the love triangle. Don't even get me started on that. It ruins what would otherwise be a great movie! Anyone who has ever read the book knows exactly which dwarf dies! Plus, since Tauriel is not in LOTR, we never get closure on her story. She just drops off the face of Middle-Earth. (Pun intended.) Bad choice of character addition, Peter Jackson. Besides that, I thought the movie was quite well done. The barrel scene is hilarious. :) Also, the scenes at Dol Guldor added some detail that helped the story along. Galadriel did get a little weird... However, I just cannot get past the addition of a character who did not fit with the story, and ruined some other characters for me. Still, it was fun to watch. And 22950006357453, good point. The title is worded oddly.

DO NOT WATCH IT if you have read the book! It is NOT like the book at all!
First off: DO NOT combine Jackson (Lord of the Rings, Kong) and Del Toro (Pacific Rim)! both brilliant directors, but this is what happens when one takes over and finishes what the other had started!
Second: Legolas does NOT live anywhere near those woods. he is from the Woodland Relm. Sure its nice to see Orlando Bloom again but not if it totally kills the movie! (by the way, who the **** was the red head elf? Legolas's GF? HE DOESN'T HAVE ONE!)
Third: You cant turn one book into a trilogy. Lord of the rings was a trilogy because it was three books. But The Hobbit (or There and Back Again) was one book. So obviously it should be one movie.

Bard the Bowman: "The Lord of Silver Fountains... The King of Carven Stone... The King Beneath the Mountain... shall come into his own... And the bells shall ring in gladness... at the Mountain King's return... But all shall fail in sadness... and the Lake will shine and burn..."

Thranduil: Do not talk to me of dragon fire! I know its wrath and ruin. I have faced the great serpents of the North. I warned your grandfather of what his greed would summon, but he would not listen. You are just like him. Stay here if you will and rot, 100 years is a mere blink in the life of an elf, I'm patient, I can wait.

Tauriel: [reluctant] It is our fight. It will not end here. With every victory this evil will grow. If your father has his way, we will do nothing. We will hide within our walls, live our lives away from the light and let darkness descend. Are we are not part of this world? Tell me, Mellon, when did we let evil become stronger than us?

Violence:Several fighting scenes including one with dwarves, elves, and giant spiders, and another with dwarves, elves and orcs. There is one at Laketown which involves orcs and Bard's children (for a few moments) that might frighten young children.

7Liberty7
Jun 12, 2014

Frightening or Intense Scenes:The giant spiders, Orcs, Smaug, the part with Sauron, and the fighting scenes have a high likelihood to frighten young children.

Summary

After escaping death from the Orcs and giant Spiders and imprisonment from the Elves, Bilbo Baggins and the 13 dwarves are smuggled into Laketown. From there 9 of the dwarves make it to the Misty Mountains where they manage to awake and provoke Smaug.